A  Muslim family in Pearland, Texas were investigated for terrorism after a substitute teacher reported their six-year-old son with down syndrome to the police for terrorism.

The six-year-old in question, Mohammed Suleiman allegedly kept repeating the words, ‘Allah’ and ‘boom boom’, which led the teacher to call the police to report him. However his father Maher Suleiman has said that Mohammed has down syndrome and does not talk yet, and requires care majority of the time, so these allegations do not make sense.

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The teacher who was covering the class while the regular teacher was away, claimed that Mohammed could speak in full sentences. Her allegations resulted in the family being involved two investigations; one by the police department for terrorism, and one by the child protective services. The police stated in a report that, their investigation concluded that there was no evidence that required their involvement. However, the investigation being led by the child protective services is still pending.

The father Maher Suleiman has said in an interview with Fox News that this has been a very distressing time for the family following the two investigations;

“The last three or four weeks have been the hardest of my life.

They claim he is a terrorist. This is so stupid, this is discrimination actually. It’s not implied discrimination, it’s a hundred per cent discrimination.”

It’s clear to see from this story that Islamophobia is rising dangerously high, whereby even vulnerable children are not exempt from religious discrimination. Where possible we need to take action and ensure that their rights are protected and childhoods not taken.